ExtensionSunset

The webRequest permission

Chrome extension permission · by Alex · checked

An extension holding webRequest can watch all network traffic from the sites it has access to, including what is sent and received.

We weight it 15 out of 100 when scoring how much an extension can reach. That is a measure of capability, not of behaviour: plenty of extensions need this to do their job.

Extensions we track using it
1,636
Share of those we have checked
2.4%
Risk weight
15/100

What replaced it

Manifest V3 extensions mostly use declarativeNetRequest instead, which blocks and rewrites requests without letting the extension read them. An extension still asking for this one is either on the old platform or has a reason to need the traffic itself.

Who asks for it

Out of the 67,225 extensions we have examined, 1,636 declare this permission. These are the largest of them by user count.

ExtensionPlatformUsersReach
Adobe Acrobat: PDF edit, convert, sign tools Manifest V3 320M 100
AdBlock — block ads across the web Manifest V3 61M 70
Adblock Plus - free ad blocker Manifest V3 38M 70
360 Internet Protection Manifest V3 18M 90
VPN for Chrome: NordVPN proxy protection Manifest V3 14M 100
Tampermonkey Manifest V3 12M 100
Malwarebytes Browser Guard Manifest V3 11M 100
Loom – Screen Recorder & Screen Capture Manifest V3 8M 100
NordPass® Password Manager & Digital Vault Manifest V3 8M 78
Avira Browser Safety Manifest V3 7M 100
Bitwarden Password Manager Manifest V3 7M 95
WPS PDF - Read, Edit, Fill, Convert, and AI Chat PDF with Ease Manifest V3 6M 100
Urban VPN Proxy Manifest V3 6M 100
Norton Safe Search Manifest V3 5M 70
Video Downloader Professional Manifest V3 5M 68
Keepa - Amazon Price Tracker Manifest V3 4M 42
DeepL: translate and write with AI Manifest V3 4M 100
IE Tab Manifest V3 4M 100
Coupert - Automatic Coupon Finder & Cashback Manifest V3 3M 89
DuckDuckGo Search & Tracker Protection Manifest V3 3M 100
Free Download Manager Manifest V3 3M 100
Stylish - Custom themes for any website Manifest V3 2M 70
Ghostery AdBlocker for Privacy Manifest V3 2M 100
Free VPN For Chrome - VPN Extension - Windscribe Manifest V3 2M 100
AdBlocker Ultimate Manifest V3 2M 100

Counts are of extensions we have checked ourselves, not of the whole Chrome Web Store. Chrome's own reference for developers: developer.chrome.com. How we weight permissions